An eventful ninth inning broke the monotony at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock, even if it didn't bring a better result for the Arkansas Travelers.
The Travs' offense awoke from a two-day slumber to score three runs in the bottom of the ninth, but pinch runner Zach Welz was called out at home plate trying to score the tying run and the Corpus Christi Hooks escaped with a 4-3 victory in front of 3,049 on Friday night.
"We would have liked to have finished off the comeback," first baseman Alex Yarbrough. "But, yeah, it was big for us."
The latest loss -- their 12th in their last 17 games -- came after being held to 5 hits through 8 innings and a ninth inning that included 2 walks, an error, a hit-by-pitch, 2 RBI singles and an ejection.
Trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the ninth, Andrew Daniel walked, Jabari Henry reached on a fielding error and Caleb Adams walked to load the bases. Then, Hooks hitting coach Dan Radison was ejected for arguing balls and strikes from the dugout as reliever Jacob Dorris warmed up in the bullpen.
"The strategy there was the hitting coach getting thrown out for their guy to get loose," Arkansas Manager Mark Parent said.
It didn't work -- at first.
Wade Wass singled to score Daniel to make it 4-1, then the Hooks replaced Michael Freeman with Dorris, who hit Bo Way with a pitch to score the second run. Freeman struck out Daniel Fletcher and Sean Coyle before Yarbrough's shallow single to left field scored Adams. Welz, who pinch-ran for Wass, was called out at the plate by umpire Nestor Ceja on the play, but just about everyone in a Travs uniform protested.
"I thought I made it," Welz said.
"From my vantage point, I thought he was safe easy," Parent said. "I was shocked when he called him out. He tells me 'Mark, if he would have been safe, I would have called him safe.' "
Parent was pleased to see the late spark -- the three-run inning broke a 19-inning scoreless streak -- but the first eight innings were similar to what he's seen lately.
The Travs were held to five hits through the first eight innings and stranded two runners in the second, one in the fourth, and one in the sixth and seventh innings. Trent Thornton earned the victory after holding the Travs to 5 hits over 6 innings and striking out 5.
"I can't explain it, I really can't," Parent said. "You watch their work in the cage and it's 'Yeah, we're going to do OK today.' And then it just doesn't transfer."
Yarbrough, in his fifth minor-league season, said he can feel the team's frustration as it nears the end of a long season. The Travs are 5-11 in August while hitting .212 and averaging 2.8 runs per game.
"Every year that kind of tends to happen -- you hope it doesn't," he said. "But, some of the balls that are hit well are getting tracked down and you just have to fight through it."
Both Parent and Yarbrough hope Friday's ninth inning is a sign of a turned corner. Even in the rally, Parent saw some things that didn't please him. For instance, Fletcher and Coyle striking out with the bases loaded and no outs with the tying run in scoring position.
"That's disheartening," Parent said. "I would have bet the house that Fletcher would have put the ball in play."
Yarbrough was able to when his bloop single landed in shallow left field. But Ceja ruled that Bobby Boyd's throw from left beat Coyle to the plate and the Travs lost, rather than having Eric Aguilera at the plate and the winning run on third base.
"We would have liked our chances with our best hitter up," Yarbrough said. "It would have been nice to be able to see that."
Sports on 08/20/2016